Paris: With Pen and Pencil eBook

The prison for debtors is in Rue de Clichy, and is
in an airy situation, is well constructed, and holds
three or four hundred persons. The officers of
this prison still remember the modest-faced American
editor, who spent a few memorable days in it—­I
mean Horace Greeley of the Tribune. France
is not sufficiently enlightened yet to abolish imprisonment
for debt, but the time will soon come. Such a
barbarity cannot for any great length of time disgrace
the history of any civilized nation.

The prison of St. Pelagie, in Rue de la Chef, was
formerly a prison for debtors, but is now used for
the imprisonment of persons committed for trial, or
those persons sentenced for short terms. Nearly
six hundred persons are confined in it.

Connected with the prisons of Paris are two benevolent
institutions, the object of which is to watch over
and educate the young prisoners of both sexes during
their terms of imprisonment, and after they have left
prison. As soon as they have left prison they
are cared for, and if they conduct themselves well,
they are generally furnished with good places.
Prisoners are also taken from the Correctional House
before their terms have expired, in cases of excellent
conduct, and the government pays the society a sum
toward the expenses of such persons until the time
of their sentence shall have expired. Lamartine,
the poet, was at one time president of one of these
truly benevolent societies.

The prisons of Paris, take them as a whole, compare
favorably with those of any city in the world.
Their administration is characterized by an enlightened
liberality and philanthropy, and though it may seem
strange, yet it is true, that Paris abounds with the
most self-sacrificing philanthropists. The prisoner,
the deaf and dumb, the blind and the idiotic, are
cared for with a generosity and skill not surpassed
in any other land.

* * * *
*

FOUNDLING HOSPITALS.

There are at least one hundred and fifty foundling
hospitals in France, and Paris has a celebrated one
in the Rue d’Enfer. It was established by
St. Vincent de Paul, in 1638, but has been very much
improved since. The buildings are not remarkable
for their architectural beauty, for they are very
plain. The chapel contains a statue of the founder.
It is now necessary for a mother who desires to abandon
her child, to make a certificate to that effect before
the magistrate. The latter is obliged to grant
the desire of the woman, though it is a part of his
duty to remonstrate with her upon her unnatural conduct,
and if she consents to keep the child, he is empowered
to help her to support it from a public fund.
The infants received at the hospital are, if healthy,
put out at once to nurse in the country, and the parentage
of the child is recorded. Unhealthy children
are kept under hospital treatment. Nurses from
the country constantly present themselves for employment,